The Okanagan Skaha School District is receiving input and comments about proposed school closures and restructuring in Summerland and Penticton, but the process will not include a formal public hearing process.
Public engagement meetings were held in Penticton and Summerland from Feb. 5 to 7 to present information about the proposed changes and to hear comments from the public.
Under the changes, two elementary schools in Penticton, Carmi and Parkway and Giant’s Head in Summerland would be closed. The three middle schools would be reconfigured to serve as elementary schools. In Penticton, elementary schools would house students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 with the two high schools accommodating those from Grade 8 to 12. In Summerland, the elementary schools would be for those in Kindergarten to Grade 6, with the high school accommodating those from Grade 7 to Grade 12.
The proposal from the school district calls for the transition to take place over three years with the first transition for current Grade 7s to transition to high school in the 2024-25 school year.
School board chair James Palanio said the school board is gathering information and input to understand concerns about the proposed changes.
He said the questions have been about how the school changes would affect specific students within the school district.
“People are understanding that we needed to plan to close schools,” he said.
Enrolment has been declining and at present, the school district has 5,741 students. This is a decrease of 36 per cent since 2001.
In Penticton, schools are at 82 per cent of capacity, while in Summerland, schools are at 69 per cent of capacity. The province’s Ministry of Education and Child Care’s facilities guidelines has a target of 95 per cent capacity.
This is not the first time school closures have been proposed within the school district.
In 2016, three schools in the school district were slated for closure. However, funding became available in June of that year and as a result, Trout Creek Elementary School in Summerland and West Bench Elementary School in Penticton remained open. McNicoll Park Elementary School in Penticton was closed.
Palanio said the Rural Education Enhancement Fund, which kept the two schools open in 2016, is no longer available. He added that the province is struggling with rising enrolment levels in parts of the Lower Mainland and in Kelowna.
Linda Van Alphen, a Summerland school trustee, said the purpose of the meetings was to allow people to voice their concerns and questions about the proposed change.
“Everybody gets to be heard,” she said.
She added that the suggestion is a proposal and has not yet been approved by the school board.
Questions to date have been about the transition away from the middle school model, with parents asking how the change will affect their children.
She added that while the changes, if adopted, would no longer have middle schools in Penticton and Summerland, the needs of students from Grade 6 to Grade 8 would still be addressed within the school system.
Additional public engagement sessions will be held March 4 to 6, with locations to be determined.
The school board will review all information received.
A special school board meeting, planned for April 10 from 6 to 8 p.m., will review the recommendations, with a potential motion to adopt the recommended school facilities plan.
